Big Joe Turner, 1911-1985, began his career during the late 1920’s. For the next 20 plus years he made a name for himself as a blues artist.

All that changed during the 1950s when he moved his style over to a rock ‘n’ roll sound and suddenly, at the age of 43, he found himself a star.

“Shake, Rattle and Roll” was one of the seminal songs of early rock ‘n’ roll. The lyrics were raw and the vocal frenetic but the music was able to fuse blues and black rhythms into a mix that formed early rock.

During the 1960s he would return to his blues roots. He was elected to the Blues Hall Of Fame in 1983 and The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame during 1987.